Mermaids in Florida (where else?)
So, the owner of a roadside attraction--a water park with a live mermaid show--was refusing to maintain it adequately, and there had been threats that it would have to be closed down. But....
"Not wanting to see this historic and nostalgic park close for good, the City of Weeki Wachee, established in 1966 with a population of nine residents, stepped forward to accept the gift of owning the mermaid attraction in an effort to save it."
Apparently this place has already been featured on big news outlets. The residents of Weeki Wachee (or at least the maintainers of the website listed below) say that the media "took interest in this very real drama of the mermaids fighting for their life!"
Yes, mermaids fighting for their lives. Seriously though, if anyone has never seen one of these huge tank of water in which women swim around with constricted leg movement for audiences, there's a video made for a British band, Supergrass, that shows... well... the show. Oh, and if anyone is wondering, these mermaids do not bare their breasts, and the video even brought together some of the older women who are "former mermaids" to revisit their act. If anyone's read Eugenides' "Middlesex," (or performed in a mermaid act) this may bring on some flashbacks.
http://mermaid.weekiwachee.com/
"Not wanting to see this historic and nostalgic park close for good, the City of Weeki Wachee, established in 1966 with a population of nine residents, stepped forward to accept the gift of owning the mermaid attraction in an effort to save it."
Apparently this place has already been featured on big news outlets. The residents of Weeki Wachee (or at least the maintainers of the website listed below) say that the media "took interest in this very real drama of the mermaids fighting for their life!"
Yes, mermaids fighting for their lives. Seriously though, if anyone has never seen one of these huge tank of water in which women swim around with constricted leg movement for audiences, there's a video made for a British band, Supergrass, that shows... well... the show. Oh, and if anyone is wondering, these mermaids do not bare their breasts, and the video even brought together some of the older women who are "former mermaids" to revisit their act. If anyone's read Eugenides' "Middlesex," (or performed in a mermaid act) this may bring on some flashbacks.
http://mermaid.weekiwachee.com/